Minotaurs
"The beast, the bronze beast in the darkness, footsteps, it never tired, it just kept coming! We didn't stand a chance...wherever we turned, we could not escape, never escape!" ::— Testimony of Hedrith Blaine, Sole Survivor, Jurah-17 Mining Colony, Larsha Tertius Added by [[|Algrim Whitefang]] Minotaurs Chapter Colour SchemeAdded by [[|Algrim Whitefang]] Minotaurs Original Chapter Colour SchemeAdded by [[|Algrim Whitefang]]That there existed a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter called the Minotaurs, created during the Cursed 21st Founding of the 36th Millennium, is not widely contested in the Imperial record, but whether or not they are the same as the Chapter bearing the name that took part in the suppression of the Macharian Heresy in the opening decades of the 41st Millennium (and the same Chapter that would later go on to play a crucial and bloody role in the Badab War) is not so certain. The Minotaurs possess a reputation for being unusually xenophobic Astartes, even for the Imperium, as well as often unreliable combatants who do not work well with other Imperial military units. Chapter HistoryEdit A Space Marine Chapter of brutal repute within the Imperium of Man, the Minotaurs have long been the brunt of suspicion and acrimony by other Space Marine Chapters. Furthermore, there are those within the Ordo Hereticus of the Inquisition who believe the Minotaurs possess unknown ties to the High Lords of Terra. While much of the Minotaurs' records going back over the last millennia has been ascertained through sifting through myriad battle archives from across the Imperium, much of their history before this point is not simply lost, but has been deliberately suppressed and sealed under binding edicts laid down by the High Lords of Terra that even the authority of the Inquisition cannot circumvent. It has been acknowledged that there was a Space Marine Chapter of the name Minotaurs created as part of the 21st Founding (Cursed Founding). But whether or not the Chapter bearing the same name millennia later during some of the most notable campaigns in the early 41st Millennium is the same has become a subject of much debate amongst Imperial scholars. The Minotaurs of the Cursed 21st Founding rapidly gained a reputation as a force whose ferocity and fury on the battlefield were all but unmatched. As time progressed, their tendency to shun the command of others, and their erratic gene-seed tithe to the Magos Inviglia of the Adeptus Mechanicus, combined with the diverse curses and genetic corruption that seemed to afflict other Chapters of their Founding, raised much darker suspicions about the nature of the Minotaurs and the secrets they might be hiding. The few fragmentary records that remain show the Chapter's gene-seed branded as "Chimeric." This, as blasphemous as it may now seem, may have indicated that the Minotaurs' genetic material was either procured from a prohibited source, mixed with a heretical genetic pool, adulterated or somehow tampered with during its creation. Many Astartes scions of the Chapters created during the 21st Founding were found to have had their gene-seed experimented on. The Minotaurs are more than likely to have been among those who had their gene-seed tampered with or altered in some way as well. It is likely that the Minotaurs' barely-controlled battle fury and desire to shun those they should have called comrade was a result of some particular curse in their blood, but whether or not their affliction has mastered them or they have finally mastered it remains unknown. Regardless, from the middle of the 38th Millennium onwards, the Minotaurs all but slipped from the Imperium's records, their deeds and battle honours suppressed or expunged by a series of edicts and data purges. When the Chapter reappeared millennia later, it was noted they had a tendency to respond quickly and without question to a call to arms from the High Lords of Terra, even when the case was to castigate, apprehend or even destroy formerly Loyal Space Marines who had been declared Renegade or had accusations of suspected transgressions lodged against them. This gave the Minotaurs a fell reputation as a Chapter. In particular, the Ultramarines and its myriad Successor Chapters are known to bear considerable ill will towards the Minotaurs and will not fight beside them after the Minotaurs' near-extinction of the Inceptors Chapter at Euxcine. Since its return to prominence, some Imperial scholars who have studied this reclusive Chapter's actions have noted the discrepancies between the Minotaurs Chapter of the present and that of the past, both in terms of structure and behaviour, and in matters of minutiae such as livery. This speculation also pertains towards the Minotaurs' gene-seed, of which tithes have been logged but remain classified at the highest level. Notable CampaignsEdit *'Macharian Heresy' (ca. 053-077.M41) - When the Minotaurs reappeared again for the first time in millennia during the suppression of the Macharian Heresy, they were a Chapter both familiar through their fell reputation and profoundly changed. Equipped to the highest standards, they fought as an integrated and highly flexible force and were based upon a powerful Chapter fleet operating more than a dozen strike cruisers. No less brutal than their ancient repute suggested, they fought in what was nevertheless a more considered and controlled manner than that heard of in the ancient tales of the Imperium. *'Badab War' (907-913.M41) - The Minotaurs arrived in the Maelstrom Zone of the Ultima Segmentum in 907.M41, answering the direct call from the acting Legate Inquisitor for more Space Marines to join the Loyalist cause against the Secessionist Chapters. The conflict was in its fourth year of open warfare, and the Minotaurs committed their entire strength to the war; ten companies and eleven capital ships of various types. While the Chapter coordinated their efforts with the Loyalist command, they operated largely independent throughout the conflict, striking targets as they saw fit. The viciousness of the Chapter's reputation for leaving no survivors among those that resisted them quickly grew, and remained uncontested until the arrival of the even more savage Carcharodons Chapter. The Minotaurs gained several important victories during this time, effectively destroying Seccessionist forces on multiple worlds. However, the action for which their fame would spread far beyond the conflict (despite a deliberate suppression of the war's progress by the Inquisition), would be their wholesale defeat of the Lamenters' Chapter in a close-quarters space battle in the Optera System in the closing days of the early Badab Uprising in 908.M41. Finally, the Minotaurs withdrew from the Maelstrom Zone in 913.M41 after the fall of Badab Primaris, taking with them several former Lamenters warships to replace their own losses. *'Rynn's World' (989.M41)- The Minotaurs saw action on Rynn's World during the attempt to reclaim the Crimson Fists' homeworld from the Orks. Chapter OrganisationEdit The Minotaurs conform to both the structural and squad-level pattern of the Codex Astartes in terms of broad organisation. But at a tactical level this Chapter differs significantly in its general approach to warfare. The Minotaurs prefer to operate as a whole, or at least in as few divisions of its forces as possible in any given theater of war, concentrating and thereby maximising its destructive power. This strategy has allowed the Chapter to excel at siegecraft and in combat against monstrous opponents, which they can overwhelm by sheer weight of numbers if need be. Unlike most Space Marine Chapters, some of the Minotaurs' key tactics are partly dependent on the use of superior attrition within a confined area of engagement, the Chapter's commanders perhaps less mindful of the fate of their Battle-Brothers than some, so long as victory is achieved. Two significant factors aid the Minotaurs in their chosen pattern of warfare; their excellent supplies of heavy arms and war machinery and a markedly rapid influx of new Neophytes to replace ongoing losses due to attrition. The exact source of their war materiel has remained unconfirmed, but they have been observed to operate using large and replenishing stockpiles of tanks and heavy armour (primarily Vindicators and Predators as tactical support vehicles). The Minotaurs have also been observed to have widespread access to supplies of the advanced Mark VIII "Errant" Power Armour, and commonly field much of their 1st Company as Terminators in combat. Another unusual aspect of the Minotaurs is the methods in which they are able to replace losses in manpower so quickly. The speed of transition between Neophyte, Scout Marine and full Battle-Brother in the Chapter is brief compared to that of many other Space Marine Chapters. This is explained by the use of extremely high levels of programmed psycho-indoctrination and neuro-cerebral surgery by the Chapter. This program accelerates the recruits' progression and is continued during deployment as ongoing treatments to reinforce mental conditioning administered by the Chapter's Apothecaries. These techniques, though not forbidden as heretical, have inherent dangers that could carry a greater risk of damaging the subject physically and mentally than those normally performed by other Chapters. Most Space Marine Chapters consider the more studied training and battlefield erudition of their Neophytes to be a key component in tempering the soul of a warrior rather than the dangerous artificial techniques employed by the Minotaurs to replace their often self-inflicted losses. Chapter Combat DoctrineEdit The ancient repute of the Minotaurs of the 21st Founding suggests that on the battlefield their Astartes often times eschewed any form of combat that did not allow them to rapidly get to grips with their enemies as fast as possible. This highly autonomous, almost berserk force was often announced in a war zone without preamble or even much by the way of reconnaissance. They would hurl themselves at the enemy without heed of loss or cost. Their fury spent, the Minotaurs would then withdraw as suddenly as they had arrived. This pattern made the Minotaurs too unpredictable and unreliable a force to be counted on by their fellow Imperial allies. The Minotaurs that emerged in the early years of the 41st Millennium were quite different in regards to how they prosecuted a campaign. The Chapter now preferred to deploy a vanguard to pin their enemies in combat, then use fast units to encircle them to ensure there can be no escape before bringing in the full weight of the Chapter's firepower and heavy armour to crush the foe without mercy. Still highly autonomous, the Minotaurs go where they are willed by the needs of the Imperium but now seem far more content to operate within the structure and command of the Imperial war machine than the Chapter's distant history suggests. Chapter BeliefsEdit The Minotaurs seem to bear little respect for anyone or anything, save the Emperor of Mankind and the High Lords of Terra, for whom they have displayed fanatic and unquestioning loyalty. The Chapter tends to show no love for civility or deference when dealing with individual Imperial commanders and other Space Marine Chapters, but they have been known to show pleasure in testing their skills against worthy foes. Some speculate that perhaps the Minotaurs consider their fellow Astartes as particularly worthy. In one well-recorded incident, the Chapter nearly came to blows with the Genesis Chapter after deliberately insulting the name of Marneus Calgar. Bloody conflict between them was only averted by the arrival of a fresh wave of Orks from the Octarian Empire. Given this predilection for testing themselves against their fellow Space Marines, it is unsurprising that the Minotaurs would appear during the Badab War. The Astral Claws and other Seccessionist Chapters would have certainly proved to be worthy foes. Some Imperial commanders who have served with the Minotaurs since their reemergence have gone on record, hinting that this Chapter is at the edge of madness or heresy - describing the defences and security precautions taken by them even when dealing with supposed allies as obsessive bordering on the paranoid. Given the number of enemies both within and without the Imperium this is perhaps unsurprising. Notable MinotaursEdit *'Lord Asterion Moloc, Master of the Minotaurs, Satrap of the ''Daedelos Krata, Bringer of Wrath''' - Asterion Moloc is the current Chapter Master of the fearsome and brutal Minotaurs Space Marine Chapter. This paranoid and bloody-handed Astartes commander revels in his dark reputation and his name is a byword for death and mayhem carried out in the name of the benevolent Emperor of Mankind. Lord Asterion Moloc is a brutal tactician and enjoys the utter destruction of his foes, but has little patience for councils or strategic planning when forced by circumstance to work with other Imperial forces. Instead he chooses to remain aloof, as is his Chapter's nature, often sending his Reclusiarch (High Chaplain) Ivanus Enkomi as his Chapter's emissary and his personal representative in such matters. During the conflict known as the Badab War there was no record of Asterion Moloc ever being present for a war council of the Loyalist Astartes Chapters involved in the conflict. The only record of his presence in the war came from pict-footage recovered from battle scans and fearful stories spread by the few Secessionist survivors of the Minotaurs' brutal attacks. The fell Master of the Minotaurs, Asterion Moloc, is a bloody-handed and paranoid Chapter Master who revels in his dark reputation, and his name is a byword for slaughter and destruction carried out in the Emperor's name on a score of worlds. A veteran of hundreds of battles, his body has been heavily rebuilt with cybernetic augments and his sheer spite and malice is enough to allow him to shrug off wounds that would fell a lesser Space Marine. A brutal tactician, Moloc takes pleasure in the utter destruction of his foes, and is most often found in battle at the head of his Chapter's Terminators slamming into the enemy line. He is also a diligent and disciplined logistician and strategist, and a master of siegecraft. Outside of battle he can be found on his brazen throne at the centre of the maze-like chambers of the heavy Assault Carrier Daedelos Krata, surrounded by datafeeds, tabulation Servitors and casualty reports, measuring the drops of blood spilt in pursuit of his Chapter's strategic goals. *'Reclusiarch Ivanus Enkomi, The Voice of the Chapter '- Ivanus Enkomi is the current Reclusiarch (High Chaplain) of the fearsome Minotaurs Space Marine Chapter. A skilled tactical commander, he leads his forces from the front in battle, exhorting them to ever greater heights of hatred and destruction against the foes of the Emperor of Mankind. During the infamous internecine conflict known as the Badab War, Chaplain Ivanus Enkomi was at the forefront of the Minotaurs' offensives in several key battles. Enkomi served as the Minotaurs' primary representative to the Loyalist war council that oversaw the Badab War. 410px-Terminator Veteran Sergeant.jpg 347px-Minotaurs Tartaros.jpg 324px-Minotaurs Vet. 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